Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1887-07-21


his presence could be found. The stricken
parents, like the patriarch Of old, refused
to be comforted. Like him they felt. if
they did not say, of their darling, aSome
wild beast hath devoured him.
With anguish and heayiness of heart did
Guy Danvers and his wife pass that fall and
dreary winter that followed it. The heart
felt sympathy of their rude pioneer neigh
bors was given them, and many a visit
was made them through the trackless SHOWS
of the forest; but these things could do
little to assauge their grief. Sometimes
they talked of returning to their old Com
nectlcut home; but all places were much
the same to them now, and they decided
that their heavy burden could be bone as
well here as elsewhere. The spring came;
the snow disappeared, the grand forest
around them was bursting into verdure and
bloom, and filled with the happy song of
BIRDS; but the joy of nature only caused the
hearts of these parents to bleed afresh. In
the twilight of an Apri! evening they sat
together with bowed heads and clasped
hands, listening as a travelling missionary,
who had stopped with them over night, and
to whom they had told their story, read to
them from his Bible. He had turned to
the Book of Job, and his voice, was solemn
| and impressive as he read that inspired
| record of loss, disappointment, and trust in
| God.
The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken
away; blessed be the name of the Lord"
The door softly opened as he read these
words-there was no knock or call--and
there.i in the doorway stood Kondinrcck,
holding his long rifle in one hand, with the
lost child standing by his side! Tho little
fellow was dressed in Indian fashion
throughout, from the eagle feathers of n
chief in his hair to the deer-skin moe
casins upon his feet, and his whole attire
was SNOWY with beads and trinkets. In an
instant he was in his mothers arms; then
his father clasped him to lis breast; and
the tears, the JOY, and the thanksgiving
that followed, as one might be welcomed
back from the grave, need not be dwelt
upon here.
There was q time during the evening,
of this meeting, and the long journey he
had taken, had once more been placed in
his little crib, and the hunger of the
Indian had been satisfied, that the latter
told in few words the story of little Picks
loss and recovery. The missionary was
we'll acquainted with the Mohawk Ian
guage, and he was able TO interpret every
word to the parents. II appeared that on
the morning Of the child's disappearance q
small party of Mohawks We're about to re-
turn to Grand River from visit to their
old home. One of them strayed n little
way from the Ridge, and nenr the edge of
Danvers' clearing he found the boy Mt play.
Prompted by some motive which Kondia-
rock could not explain, he kidnapped the
child, and the party took him with them to
the Grand River. No one saw the act, and
they met none of the white settlers on their
way; so that the affair was buried in Sc
crecy. Upon reaching the principal Mo-
hawk village little Pick was adopted into
the family of a chief, and there he would
probably have remained, had not Kondi-
arock, who had been absent all the winter
hunting in the Canadian willis, returned to
the village. He recognized the child ut
once, and related 10 the great chief of the
tribe, who was no less person than Joseph
Brant, we'll known in history, the story of
the kindness of the boys parents to him.
self.
"And then," continued the Indian, athe
great Thayendamgea said, Let us be just;
let us do right. Do you take back the white
pappoose; rejoice the heart of the pale fnce
squaw with her child So four days ago
did Kondiarock leave the huts of his people
at Grand River with the child. Very slowly
he came, for the boy was little and easily
tired; and then Kondiarock would take him
up in his arms and carry him. The SHOWS
are deep on some of the way; the great
river of the Niagara had to be crossed; the
forest was full of hungry wolves; and when
night came, kondiareck had to watch by n
fire and keep the boy safe and warm. But
he is safe now in his own wigwam; and
Thayendamgen has said, that, for their kind
ness to one of his tribe, the Mohawks shall
now always be friends to the boys
kindred"
The face of the Indian was as impassiye
and stern during the delivery of these
words as though it had been carved from
stone. But the missionary watched him as
Mrs. Danvers stopped over the crib to kiss
her sleeping child again, and he heard him
utter a few words of his language very
softly, MS if in soliloquy, which were after
ward interpreted 10 the mother to mean,
poor little pale faced lamb"
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